US Air Force base in UK on alert after car rams into gates

London: A US Air Force base in the UK was placed under lockdown today after what local police described as a “significant incident”.

A man driving a car rammed his vehicle into the gates at Royal Air Force (RAF) Mildenhall in Suffolk in the East Anglia region of England.

“The base was put into lockdown and units responded immediately. Shots were fired by American service personnel and a man has been detained with cuts and bruises and taken into custody,” a Suffolk Police statement said.

“No other people have been injured as a result of the incident. Suffolk Police remain on site,” it notes.

The lockdown at the base, home to the 100th Air Refueling Wing, has since been lifted.

“We are aware of an incident at the entry point of RAF Mildenhall. Suffolk police have primacy,” a UK Ministry of Defence statement said.

Further details of the so-called “disturbance” at the base today are yet to be confirmed.

Last year, Junead Khan, a delivery driver from Luton in the east of England, was convicted of plotting to behead a US serviceman outside RAF Mildenhall.